Spending a few minutes a day landscaping your home can do amazing things for your property’s overall look and value. From planting seasonal flowers to installing beautiful water features and rock gardens, landscaping can elevate your home’s outside area and create the perfect summer oasis. If you’re using a professional service like Pete Rose Inc. to gussy up your front or back lawn, you’re already in good hands. However, if you’re a beginner who wants to learn a bit more about landscaping and subtle ways to make your property pop, don’t worry. Finding the right projects isn’t too difficult as long as you have the time and the right tools. Don’t where to start? Don’t stress. Here are a few great projects to take on as a beginner landscaper that won’t hurt your budget.
1. Plant Easy-to-Tend Flowers
Creating and keeping a garden around might seem intimidating, but when you know what you’re doing (including which corners to cut,) it’s actually not as much work you’d think. Whether you’re trying to plant a full-fledged herb garden or just want to add a bit of extra color to your lawn by planting some home-grown flowers, installing a small box garden is actually one of the less time and labor-intensive ways to make your outdoor space pop. While certain flowers do take a long time to cultivate, others, like sunflowers, pansies, and dahlias, are incredibly simple to grow “from seed.” If you’ve got the time, start planting now so that you’ll have a colorful, thriving garden ready by the time spring comes along. If you want to start gardening but have no idea where to begin, start by sectioning off a small area and planting a miniature herb garden. If you have kids, this is a great collaborative project you can do together. Just pick out a few seed packets from the store, plant the seasonal flowers and herbs, and watch your backyard get totally transformed.
2. Install Weatherproof Design Elements
Adding extra elements like sculptures and rock gardens can give your outdoor area a chic, classic look. However, when it comes time to actually clean and tend to those permanent installations, you may end up regretting that you ever installed those pavers or sculptures. Luckily, there’s a way to give your garden a new look without having to spend half your life scrubbing algae growth off of statues. Choose design features and installations that don’t need a ton of upkeep and can give your backyard a beautiful, classed-up look. Using small solar lights is a great way to harness the sun’s light to create mystical, non-electrical lighting once the sun goes down, and installing more “rustic”-looking garden art pieces such as flower-filled watering cans and found antique pieces can give your garden a whole new personality.
3. Install Easy Pavers
If you want to give your garden an extra bit of structure and balance, installing stone pavers are a great way to do it. You can purchase inexpensive pavers to create a small path, connect the outdoor garden to the front lawn, or simply create a space for walking the grounds at night. Pavers aren’t hard to install, and as long as you pre-treat them with anti-lime and mildew spray, they’ll be able to stay protected from moss and algae through the year. Choosing a strong, non-absorbent material like stone will help keep your walkway clean and free of slippery residue, and you can even add your own stylistic touches to your new path by planting flowers or placing flower pots on either side of your paver installations.
4. Keep Greenery Looking Its Greenest
It doesn’t matter how large your lawn is if you don’t do the most to keep your grass green and your hedges clipped. Keeping your outdoor area looking as green as possible doesn’t require hiring chemical treatments for your lawn or obsessively trimming hedges every day. Doing something simple and hands-off like installing a lawn sprinkler can help keep your lawn hydrated in summer months, as well as easily and quickly watering any plants or garden beds that fall in its path. Stick to a schedule when it comes to cutting your grass so that you don’t end up with overgrown, brown-looking patches everywhere. If you want a quick, easy way to make your lawn look even greener, throw a handful or two of new mulch into your flowerbeds or garden areas to bring out that contrast. You’ll be able to help your garden grow and create the illusion of a gorgeous green expanse of lawn at the same time.
